US20100211669A1 - Data center control - Google Patents

Abstract

Systems and methods for data center control are provided that identify parameters of one or more data centers, where each data center includes a plurality of devices. The systems and methods receive a command to execute an application, and identify a selected data center from the one or more data centers as a location to run the application based at least in part on an evaluation of the parameters.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
• This application incorporates herein by reference, in its entirety, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/370,969 entitled “Power Supply and Data Center Control,” filed on Feb. 13, 2009, and assigned to the assignee of the present application. The referenced application generally discloses systems and methods for controlling data centers.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
• 1. Field of the Invention
• At least one embodiment of the present invention relates generally to controlling facility activity, and more specifically, to managing data centers.
• 2. Background of the Invention
• In response to increasing demands of industrial, developing, and information based economies, data centers and information technology networks continue to proliferate across the globe. This expansion has taken on various forms, including widely distributed computer networks that link together geographically disparate computing resources, as well as data centers, which provide power, cooling, and computing infrastructure to a variety of applications.
• Typical data centers contain a number of racks of equipment that require power, cooling, and connections to external communications facilities. In modern data centers and network rooms, the increased density of computing equipment used in these facilities has put strains on their associated power systems. Because this computing equipment generates heat in operation, the cooling systems of these facilities are strained as well.
• As the type, size, and complexity of data centers grow, so do the costs associated with their operation. These costs include energy cost associated with power usage, the cost for acquiring electronic devices and infrastructure, the cost of associated cooling or heat dissipation systems, and the salary of maintenance and administration staff.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
• At least some aspects and embodiments of the present invention are directed to systems and methods for data center control. One or more networks can link together a plurality of data centers. An associated controller can monitor the activity and parameters of data centers as well as their components and devices. The parameters can be evaluated to identify a data center or a device thereof that is suited to execute an application.
• At least one aspect is directed to a computer implemented method for data center control. The computer implemented method identifies parameters of a plurality of data centers, where each data center includes a plurality of devices. The computer implemented method receives a command to execute an application, and identifies a selected data center from the plurality of data centers as a location to run the application based at least in part on an evaluation of the parameters.
• In one embodiment, the computer implemented method can identify requirements of an application, and can identify the data center based at least in part on an evaluation of the requirements. The method can detect a failure of an application at a data center, and in response, may identify another data center as the location to run the application. The method can determine a first data center capacity based in part on an evaluation of first data center cooling or power characteristics, provide information indicative of the first data center capacity to a device associated with a second data center, and can receive a request to execute, on a device in the first data center, an application provided by the second data center or an associated device.
• In various embodiments, at least two of the plurality of data centers can be connected by a network, and the method can monitor parameters of network infrastructure equipment that forms at least part of the network. The method can also add a physical server to a cluster of virtual servers of the data center, and can distribute at least a portion of the application to the cluster of virtual servers. The application can be provided to a virtual server of a data center, and the method can disable at least one of an uninterruptible power supply, a server, network equipment, or a cooling unit, each of which can be associated with at least one data center parameter. The method can receive a warning message from a first data center or subsystem thereof, and can transfer an application from a first data center to a second data center.
• In various embodiments, the method identifies system requirements to execute an application, and time shifts execution of an application based on an evaluation of data center parameters and the system requirements. The method can identify a server in a data center as having capacity sufficient to execute an application, provide the application to the server, and instruct the server to execute the application. In one embodiment, the method generates a request to add hardware to the data center. The method can indicate that the data center has excess capacity, and the method can distribute all or part of the application to at least one data center.
• At least one other aspect is directed to a data center activity control system. The system includes a data center controller associated with a network. The data center controller is configured to identify parameters of a plurality of data centers associated with the network, where each data center includes a plurality of devices. The data center controller is configured evaluate the parameters to identify a selected data center from the plurality of data centers as a location to run an application.
• In various embodiments, the data center controller is configured to identify requirements of an application, and further configured to identify the data center as the location to run the application based at least in part on an evaluation of the requirements of the application. Requirements of the application may include application power consumption, application redundancy, application run time, or a time period in which an application is scheduled to run, and the application may be fault tolerant or redundant. In some embodiments, the data center controller is configured to receive a command to execute the application, and the data center controller can identify the data center as the location to run the application responsive to a failure to execute the application at a different data center. The data center controller can determine a first data center capacity based on an evaluation of first data center cooling or power characteristics. The data center controller can provide information indicating the first data center capacity to a device associated with a second data center, and the data center controller can receive a request to execute, on a device in a data center, an application provided by a device associated with another data center.
• In various embodiments, the system includes a network having network infrastructure equipment associated with one or more data centers, and the data center controller can monitor parameters of the network infrastructure equipment. In some embodiments, the data center controller is configured to distribute at least a portion of an application to a cluster of virtual servers of a data center, and can provide an application to a cluster of virtual servers located in a data center. The data center controller can disable data center equipment such as an uninterruptable power supply, a server, network equipment, a computer, or a cooling unit.
• In various embodiments, the data center controller is configured to receive a warning message from a first data center or subsystem thereof, and to transfer a first application from the first data center to a second data center. The data center controller can identify system requirements to execute an application, and can time shift execution of an application based at least in part on the system requirements. The data center controller can provide the application to a server in a data center, for execution by the server, and the data center controller can generate a request to add hardware to one or more of the data centers. The data center controller can indicate that a data center has excess capacity based on an evaluation of data center parameters, and the data center controller can distribute at least a portion of an application to at least one data center based at least in part on an evaluation, by the data center controller, of data center parameters.
• At least one other aspect is directed to a computer readable medium having stored thereon sequences of instructions. The sequences of instructions include instructions, when executed by a processor, that cause the processor to identify parameters of a plurality of data centers, where each data center includes a plurality of devices. The instructions cause the processor to receive a command to execute an application, and to identify a selected data center from the plurality of data centers as a location to run the application based at least in part on an evaluation of the parameters.
• In various embodiments, the instructions cause the processor to identify requirements of an application, and to identify a data center as a location to run an application based at least in part on an evaluation of the requirements. The instructions can cause the processor to detect a failure of an application at a data center. In one embodiment, the instructions can cause the processor to determine a first data center capacity based on first data center cooling or power characteristics, to provide information indicating first data center capacity to a second data center or associated device, and to receive a request to execute, on a device in the first data center, an application provided by a device associated with the second data center.
• The instructions can cause the processor to monitor parameters of network infrastructure equipment that form at least part of a network, and can cause the processor to add a physical server to virtual servers of the data center, and distribute at least a portion of the application to one or more of the virtual servers. The instructions can cause the processor to provide the application to a virtual server located in the data center, and instructions can cause the processor to disable, responsive to an evaluation of data center parameters, one or more of an uninterruptable power supply, a server, network equipment, and a cooling unit.
• In various embodiments, the instructions can cause the processor to receive a warning message from a first data center, and to transfer an application from the first data center to the second data center. The instructions can cause the processor to identify system requirements to execute the application, and to time shift execution of the application based on an evaluation of the system requirements. The instructions can cause the processor to identify equipment in the data center as having capacity sufficient to execute the application, to provide the application to the equipment, and to instruct the equipment to execute the application. The instructions can cause the processor to generate a request to add hardware to a data center, to indicate that a data center has excess capacity based on an evaluation of data center parameters, or to distribute at least a portion of the application to at least one data center based at least in part on an evaluation of data center parameters.
• Other aspects, embodiments, and advantages of these exemplary aspects and embodiments will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, illustrating the principles of the invention by way of example only. It is to be understood that the foregoing information and the following detailed description include illustrative examples of various aspects and embodiments, and are intended to provide an overview or framework for understanding the nature and character of the claimed aspects and embodiments. The drawings, together with the remainder of the specification, serve to explain principles and operations of the described and claimed aspects and embodiments.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
• The accompanying drawings are not intended to be drawn to scale. In the drawings, each identical or nearly identical component that is illustrated in various figures is represented by a like numeral. For purposes of clarity, not every component may be labeled in every drawing. The foregoing and other objects, features, and advantages of the systems and methods disclosed herein will be more fully understood from the following description of various embodiments, when read together with the accompanying drawings, in which:
• FIG. 1 is a top view depicting an example of a data center in accordance with an embodiment;
• FIG. 2 is a block diagram depicting an example of a data center control system in accordance with an embodiment;
• FIG. 3 is a block diagram depicting an example of a data center control system in accordance with an embodiment;
• FIG. 4 is a block diagram depicting an example of server configuration in one or more data centers in accordance with an embodiment;
• FIG. 5 is a block diagram depicting an example of server configuration in a data center in accordance with an embodiment;
• FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating an example method of data center control in accordance with an embodiment;
• FIG. 7 is a functional block diagram of a computer system in accordance with an embodiment; and
• FIG. 8 is a functional block diagram of a storage system in accordance with an embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
• The systems and methods described herein are not limited in their application to the details of construction and the arrangement of components set forth in the description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or of being carried out in various ways. Also, the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. The use of “including” “comprising” “having” “containing” “involving” and variations thereof herein, is meant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional items.
• Various aspects and embodiments are directed to data center control. Characteristics of one or more data centers can be identified, monitored, and controlled by one or more data center controllers via a network. The data centers can be geographically disparate, and can have different characteristics and components. Data center controllers can evaluate characteristics of the data centers and applications that can be executed by data center components. These evaluations can include, for example, assessments of data center supply, (e.g., available data center processing capacity) or demand (e.g., parameters of applications that may be provided by data centers for execution). Based at least in part on these evaluations, a data center controller can direct an application to one or more data centers for execution.
• Embodiments described herein may be used to design, manage and retrofit a data center, such asdata center100, which is illustrated inFIG. 1.Data center100 may include various resources, equipment, or devices that support or ensure data center equipment functionality. Examples ofdata center100 resources include power, cooling, physical space, weight support, remote equipment control capability, physical and logical security and physical and logical network connectivity. Power data center resources may include power distribution resources, such as transformers, power distribution units, outlets, and power available for distribution, such as utility power supplied todata center100, power generated by an onsite generator and power supplied by power distribution units. Physical space resources indata center100 may include data center floor space and rack U space. Cooling resources indata center100 may include cooling distribution capacity and cooling generation capacity. Physical security resources indata center100 may include security cameras and door locks. Logical network connectivity resources indata center100 may include Virtual Local Area Networks, Domain Name Services, and Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol Services. Physical network connectivity resources may include network cabling and patch panels. Remote equipment control capability resources indata center100 may include Keyboard Video Mouse services.
• It should be appreciated thatdata center100 is a representative data center and various embodiments described herein are not limited to data centers such asdata center100. Various other data centers and facilities may be used that, for example, do not include raised floors.Data center100 or other data centers may be used with facilities that house more, less, or different equipment, or equipment other than computing equipment, including telecommunications facilities and other facilities. In one embodiment,data center100 includes a computer supported by a subsystem.Data center100 may, but need not be a dedicated space or room. Further, data center equipment layouts need not be neatly arranged as illustrated inFIG. 1.
• Data center100 can includerows102, coolingunits104, and at least one raisedfloor106.Rows102 can include at least onerack108, which in operation can draw cool air from the front ofrack108 and return warm air to the rear or top ofrack108. In one embodiment,rack108 may contain U space positions designed to house rack mounted data center equipment, such as, for example, servers, computers, cooling equipment, or network connectivity equipment.
• In one embodiment,rows102 ofdata center100 can be positioned to create alternating cold aisles and hot aisles. As illustrated in the embodiment ofFIG. 1,aisles110 are hot aisles andaisles112 are cold aisles. To provide cooling toracks108, in front of eachrack108 incold aisle112, perforatedfloor tiles114 can be used to provide cooling air from under raisedfloor106. Indata center100, in addition to theperforated floor tiles114, raisedfloor106 may include solid floor tiles. Coolingunits104 can provide cool air to the area under raisedfloor106 and can receive warm air from a space adjacent the ceiling of the data center.
• In one embodiment, in addition to or in place of coolingunits104, in-row cooling units, such as those available from American Power Conversion (APC) Corporation of West Kingston, R.I. may be used. In one embodiment, half-rack in-row cooling units may be used with, for example, a width of twelve inches, which is approximately half of that of a standard data center rack.
• Data centers100 may include a plurality of different types of servers. For example, a server may be a physical server, a dedicated server, or a virtual server. A physical server generally includes hardware where an operating system is run. A dedicated server generally includes a service application running on a physical server. For example, a dedicated server may include a web service or file transfer protocol (FTP) service on an operating system, where the service application can be coupled to the physical server. A virtual server can include a service that is independent of physical server hardware. For example, a virtual server may include a partitioning of a physical server into multiple servers, each having the appearance and capabilities as if they were running on their own dedicated server. In one embodiment, there can be one dedicated server operating system per physical server and multiple virtual servers per physical server. A virtual server can run concurrent with (e.g., on top of) a dedicated server.
• FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a datacenter control system200 in accordance with an embodiment. In one embodiment,system200 includes at least onedata center100. A plurality ofdata centers100 can be associated with each other via at least onenetwork205 and at least onedata center controller210.Network205 can include at least one network of interconnected computers such as the Internet, any wide, local, metro, wireless, telephone, cellular, satellite, or other area networks, or combinations thereof.Network205 may include network infrastructure equipment such as servers, routers, nodes, or switches, for example. In one embodiment,data center100 components interconnect with each other or withdata center controller210 via at least onenetwork205. Servers indata center100 and network infrastructure devices ofnetwork205 may be grouped into network zones or clusters so thatnetwork205 security remains intact during and after server additions or changes.
• In various embodiments,data center controller210 can be located within one ormore data centers100, or remotely located external todata centers100. For example,data center controller210 may be located external todata center100 and connected todata center100 vianetwork205. In one embodimentdata center controller210 includes a device such as a processor, microchip, or circuit to identify, manage, and control data center characteristics. In one embodiment,data center controller210 can receive data related to at least onedata center100. For example,data center controller210 may receive, measure, or monitor data indicative ofdata center100 temperature, capacity, power or current draw, or other data indicating an operational state ofdata center100 or its components. In one embodiment,data center controller210 can simulatedata center100 operation. In this embodiment, data center characteristics may be based on simulated or estimated—as opposed to measured—data center conditions such as temperature, capacity, or energy data. This simulated data may be either generated or received bydata center controller210.
• Data center controller210 may also contain data indicating maximum tolerances or capacities ofdata center100. In one embodiment, at least onedatabase215 stores data indicating tolerances or maximum capacity ofdata center100.Database215 may be part ofdata center controller210 or may be located elsewhere and accessible todata center controller210 via, forexample network205.Database215 may include data from more than onedata center100. In one embodiment, eachdata center100 includes at least onedatabase215 that stores data indicatingdata center100 information, such as tolerance or capacity ranges.Data center controller210 in one embodiment may include an InfraStruXure® managing platform available from American Power Conversion Corporation® of West Kingston, R.I.
• In one embodiment,data center controller210 evaluates real-time or near real time data from one ormore data centers100. For example,data center controller210 can determine ifdata center100 is operating at capacity.Data center controller210 can also determine or receive information indicating the operational state of individual devices, components, or subsystems ofdata center100. For example,data center100 may include a plurality of servers. Vianetwork205,data center100 may provide data todata center controller210 indicating that a particular server indata center100 is not operating at capacity and therefore may be capable of executing additional applications.
• In one embodiment,data center100 includes one or more subsystems. Examples of subsystems include one ormore equipment subsystems220,power generation subsystems225, uninterruptablepower supply subsystems230, coolingsubsystems235,security subsystems240,energy storage subsystems245, andcommunications subsystems250. Subsystems generally include one ormore data center100 devices tasked with a function. For example, as illustrated in the embodiments ofFIGS. 1 and 2,cooling subsystem235 may include one ormore cooling units104 tasked with regulatingdata center100 temperature. In another example,equipment subsystem220 may include servers or other logic devices that perform computing functions.
• In one embodiment,communications subsystem250 includes computer hardware that provides data to at least onedata center controller210 vianetwork205. Forexample communications subsystem250 may indicate thatdata center100 is operating at 80% of its capacity based at least in part on, for example, a cooling capacity analysis performed ondata center100. In another example,communications subsystem250 may indicate that a particular device, such as a server fromequipment subsystem220, is operating at 45% of its processing capacity. In this example, the server may be available for further processing operations. In one embodiment,communications subsystem250 can provide todata center controller210 maximum, minimum, or tolerance and operational data ofdata center100, its associated subsystems, or individual data center components or devices. Communications subsystem250 may also indicate thatdata center100 has or does not have sufficient physical space for the insertion of additional components. In one embodiment,communications subsystem250 includes at least onedatabase215.
• Communications subsystem250 may also indicate the status ofdata center100 or its associated subsystems in general. For example,communication subsystem250 may indicate that a power failure has occurred. A power failure may be due to a failure of the local power grid or a malfunction of a device or subsystem ofdata center100, for example. Communications subsystem250 may then provide information todata center controller210 indicating that a power failure has occurred.
• In one embodimentdata center controller210 continuously or periodically receives or monitors information about one ormore data centers100. From this information,data center controller210 can determine the operational status, range, and tolerance ofdata centers100 as a whole, as well as their individual devices (e.g., servers) or subsystems. Based at least in part on the received or monitored information,data center controller210 may then reallocate applications between one ormore data centers100, identify one ormore data centers100 as a location to run an application, or identify a location indata center100 as a location to add new hardware or a virtual server that can be used to run an application. In one embodiment, the received information includes simulated or estimated data center information.
• For example, afirst data center100 may be operating at greater than 90% of its maximum cooling capacity. This information may be provided fromcommunication subsystem250 todata center controller210. Asecond data center100 may be operating at 30% of its maximum cooling capacity, and this information may be provided todata center controller210 as well. In this example,data center controller210, having identified the cooling capacity parameters of first andsecond data centers100, may determine thatsecond data center100 can run an application that is currently run byfirst data center100.Data center controller210 may then instruct transfer of an application fromfirst data center100 tosecond data center100. In this example, transferring an application from afirst data center100 to a second data center reduces first data center activity, which may lower the temperature of thefirst data center100, and increase the available cooling capacity and available power capacity.
• In one embodiment,data center controller210 can identify one ofdata centers100 as a location to execute a new application. For example, one ormore data centers100 may be operating at various capacities with respect to temperature, power, or other parameters.Data center controller210 can evaluate the operating conditions of one ormore data centers100 to determine adata center100 suited to execute a new application. In various embodiments, the determination can be based on any combination of temperature, power, current, cooling, energy, security orother data center100 parameters such as location. For example, twodata centers100 may be drawing substantially the same amount of power, but may be located in different geographical locations.Data center controller210 may identify one of these twodata centers100 as a location to execute the new application because, for example,data center controller210 evaluates information indicating that energy costs at the second location are less than energy costs at the first location. In this example, bothdata centers100 may be capable of executing the new application, however energy costs makedata center100 at the second location a more suitable location in this example.
• It should be appreciated that energy costs and other external factors need not be determinative whendata center controller210 identifies a location to run an application.Data center controller210 may evaluate combinations of operational data (e.g., real time data), data center parameters (e.g., power consumption, cooling capacity, efficiency, reliability, redundancy, backup run time, tolerances ofdata centers100, their subsystems, or individual components), as well as external factors, (e.g., local energy, security, or labor costs) of one ormore data centers100 to identify one ormore data centers100 as a location to run an application.Data center controller210 may evaluate combinations of simulated data, such as simulated power consumption, simulated cooling capacity, simulated efficiency, simulated redundancy, and simulated backup run time of one ormore data centers100, their subsystems, or individual components.
• InFIG. 3 there is illustrated an example datacenter control system200. In one embodiment,data center controller210 provides an overview ofdata center100 operation in real time, and during planned events such as routine maintenance, or unplanned events such as power outages or other unplanned disruptions. In one embodiment,data center controller210 includes a change andcapacity manager305 that may determinedata center100 power and cooling characteristics as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No 11/342,300 filed Jan. 27, 2006, entitled Methods and Systems for Managing Facility Power and Cooling, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Change andcapacity manager305 may determine the capacity ofdata centers100. For example, change andcapacity manager305 may include a processor or logic device such as a circuit or microcontroller that identifies data center capacity. In oneembodiment communications subsystem250 provides to change andcapacity manager305 information regardingdata center100 capacity. For example, change andcapacity manager305 may indicate real time capacity ofdata center100. A display may provide this information to a technician or person charged withdata center100 management.
• At least one equipment capacity andstatus manager310 can sample or monitordata center100 equipment in determine an operational state (e.g., status) and operational range (e.g., capacity) ofdata center100 equipment such as servers. For example, equipment capacity andstatus manager310 may indicate that a virtual server in a particular rack ofdata center100 is operating at 95% capacity. In another example, with reference toFIGS. 1 and 3, equipment capacity andstatus manager310 may determine thatcooling unit104 is operating at 100% capacity, or that, for example, coolingunit104 has been operating at greater than 90% capacity for a determined amount of time. In one embodiment, equipment andcapacity manager310 provides information to change andcapacity manager305 for further evaluation.
• Data center controller210 may also include at least one server andnetwork manager315, referred to for convenience asserver manager315. In one embodiment,server manager315 manages and monitors performance criteria for physical, dedicated, or virtual servers located indata center100. For example,server manager315 may monitor server performance and determine that a server is operating at a certain percentage of its processing capacity. In oneembodiment server manager315 maintains and configures network equipment so that servers are located within a particular network, cluster, or zone.Server manager315 may also indicate that a server is to be added to one ormore data centers100, removed from one ormore data centers100, or moved from onedata center100 to anotherdata center100.
• In one embodiment,server manager315 can include a redundant application running on multiple virtual servers. For example, an application may have a redundancy requirement for backup purposes. Examples of such applications include payroll, accounting, security, investment, banking, or other applications where an application failure is to be generally avoided. In this example,server manager315 may identify and manage redundancy capabilities of one or more servers. In one embodiment,server manager315 may run in one or more physical locations.Server manager315 may also move between physical locations for example by operating on different servers.
• In another example,server manager315 may be implemented on dedicated hardware located indata center controller210 or indata center100. Further,server manager315 may instruct that an application be provided to a particular server for execution in response to input from a technician, or at a particular time, for example. In one embodiment,server manager315 can instruct that all or part of an application be moved from a first server to a second server. In this illustrative embodiment, first and second servers may be located in the same ordifferent data centers100. For example,server manager315 may instruct that an application be distributed across a plurality of virtual servers located in more than onedata center100.
• Data center controller210 may also include at least onehardware manager320.Hardware manager320 generally optimizesdata center100 performance by monitoring equipment parameters, energy efficiency, total cost of ownership, maintenance, and disaster events to allocate resources in and betweendata centers100. In one embodiment,hardware manager320 unites the functionality of change andcapacity manager305 andserver manager315. For example,hardware manager320 may evaluate information from change andcapacity manager305 andserver manager315 to provide instructions on where to locate a server. Factors considered byhardware manager320 in identifying server locations in one ormore data centers100 include power grid outages, maintenance, environmental changes, local time, availability of on-site staff, increasing or decreasing utilization ofdata center100. Other factors may be provided by change andcapacity manager305, equipment capacity andstatus manager310, orserver manager315, for example.
• In one embodiment, a technician may provide instructions to execute an application, ordata center100 operating requirements. For example, a technician may input parameters tohardware manager320 instructing that no new physical servers are to be added to one ormore data centers100. In this example,hardware manager320 may identify a virtual server location to execute an application. In another example, a technician may provide a maximum power draw fordata center100 due to an unreliable local power grid that supplies power todata center100. In this example,hardware manager320 may time shift or distribute applications toother data centers100 to keep a power draw ofdata center100 below a specified maximum power draw.
• In one embodiment,hardware manager320 provides instructions to move a server from a first location in afirst data center100 to a second location in the first or in asecond data center100. For example,hardware manager320 may automatically move a server such as a virtual server from a first location in afirst data center100 to a second location in the first or asecond data center100. In one embodiment, based at least in part ondata center100 information,hardware manager320 may move or provide instructions to move a server to a location indata center100.Data center100 information may include status and parameter information of data center components, total cost of ownership factors such as labor and energy costs, security, availability demands, and dynamic requirements such as power, cooling, extended runtime, and redundancy requirements.Hardware manager320 may also identify reliability or other requirements of servers, network equipment, or other devices indata centers100. Examples of these requirements include redundancy, runtime, power usage, processing speed or capacity, heat generation, security, power supply, power demand, and network zones associated with data center devices or applications. In one embodiment,hardware manager320 can evaluate the nature of an application to be executed when identifying a location to execute the application within one or more ofdata centers100.
• In one embodiment,hardware manager320 includes an application on a client platform in communication with one or more of change andcapacity manager305, equipment capacity andstatus manager310, and server andnetwork manager315. For example, a hardware manager application may interact with one or more ofmanagers305 and310 to identifydata center100 status and configuration information of servers located indata center100. A hardware manager application may also identify network equipment forming part ofnetwork205, total cost of ownership factors, anddata center100 power generation, storage, or cooling information.
• In one embodiment,data center controller210 includes at least one shared datacenter network manager325. Shared datacenter network manager325 may monitor demands and operations of one ormore networks205. For example,network205 infrastructure or equipment may have operational limitations or functional requirements. Network infrastructure limitations, such as capacity, reliability or bandwidth, can be determined bynetwork manager325 and provided tohardware manager320 or otherdata center controller210 components as a factor that may be considered when identifying a location to execute an application.
• It should be appreciated thatdata center controller210 need not include separate elements ofchange manager305, equipment capacity andstatus manager310,server manager315,hardware manager320, and shared datacenter network manager325.Data center controller210 may include other elements, such as one or more processors or circuits that can monitor parameters, requirements, and usage ofdata centers100 and their components, including servers. In one embodiment, responsive to information received from data centers,data center controller210 identifies at least onedata center100 as a location to execute an application. The application can be executed on existing equipment, or new equipment such as a virtual server can be added todata center100 to execute the application.
• In one embodiment,data center controller210, including any combination of its subsystems and managers305-325, can identify and track the physical location of servers. For example,data center controller210 may be provided with information indicating that a particular server is located in aparticular data center100.Data center controller210 may optimize the location of servers within data centers by evaluating server,data center100, andnetwork205 information such as parameters, requirements, and operational status information. In one embodiment,data center controller210 requests virtual, dedicated, or physical server movement, placement, addition, or relocation. This may be, for example, in response to application requirements,data center100 operating conditions such as planned or unplanned service or maintenance, ornetwork205 operating conditions such as power grid outages. Requests for server movement may be responsive to power, cooling, or capacity operating conditions ofdata center100. Server moves requested bydata center controller210 can increasedata center100 efficiency, reliability, and performance, and can reduce operational cost.
• In one embodiment, with respect toFIGS. 1 to 3,data center controller210 may identify aparticular data center100, or aparticular rack108 where a server is to be inserted. For example,data center controller210 may identify an existing physical server indata center100 and instruct that the existing physical server be modified to include a virtual or dedicated server. In one embodiment,data center controller210 evaluates information from a plurality ofdata centers100 and identifies a minimum number of virtual severs that can be used to execute one or more application or to perform one or more operation. This may include a cluster of virtual servers. In this illustrative embodiment, remainingdata center100 physical hardware can be shut down or put in a lower power standby mode. This conserves energy and reducesdata center100 cooling requirements.
• In one embodiment,data center controller210 provides an indication of power grid outages,data center100 failures, or other disruptions. For example,data center controller210 may identify a battery shutdown, warning, or other problem withdata centers100 ornetworks205. Data center controller120 may provide to a technician an indication of adata center100 maintenance request.
• In one example, with reference toFIGS. 1-3,data center100 may be arranged in such a manner that coolingunit104 is ineffective or inefficient. In this example, based on information received fromdata center100 such as temperature data or cooling information,data center controller210 may identify one or more servers (or other devices) that generate an undue amount of heat. Continuing with this example,data center controller210 may identify a server for relocation nearer to coolingunit104.Data center controller210 may also identify a physical server as generating an inordinate amount of heat, and in response may transfer one or more virtual servers associated with that physical server to a different location in the same or adifferent data center100.
• It should be appreciated that data center components may be evaluated to increase data center performance or operation. For example,data center controller210 may identify an inefficiently operating server. In this example,data center controller210 may identify a hardware or software upgrade.Data center controller210 may then proceed to install or request an upgrade of the server.
• In one embodiment,data center controller210 may evaluate data center information to identify or determine available data center capacity. For example,data center controller210 may identify available capacity ofdata center100 as a whole, or of individual data center components such as servers. In this example,data center controller210 may indicate that available data center capacity is available for lease, rent, or sale. In one embodiment, leasing of spare data center capacity takes place via a centralized data center capacity leasing system that can identify and indicate the availability of capacity in one ormore data centers100. In one embodiment, spare data center capacity may be distributed to one ormore data centers100 to increasedata center100 performance or to decrease cost.Data center controller210 may also indicate a need for additional capacity to run an application, and may import or export data center capacity from one ormore data centers100. It should be appreciated that this additional capacity may function as a commodity. For example, like electricity and other energy resources, data center capacity can be sold, leased, or reserved.
• Data center100 may use a three phase power supply where uninterruptablepower supply subsystem230 includes a three phase uninterruptable power supply (UPS). In this example, the three phase UPS can distribute three phase power to power distribution units (PDUs) or circuit breaker panels ofdata center100. From the PDUs, the power can be delivered toracks108 via one or more single phase or three phase branch circuits. In this example, power utilization by data center devices, (e.g., subsystems, servers, or equipment) may be either single phase or three phase, and a server or other equipment may be unaware of the phase it is using. In one embodiment,data center controller210 may monitor server reported power consumption values from a server ofdata center100. In another embodiment,data center controller210 monitors phase loading within a three phase power system ofdata center100. In this embodiment with a three phase power system,data center controller210 may be provided with phase specific information (e.g., the phase a server is connected to) in addition to any server reported power consumption information that indicates power consumption without specifying a phase.
• In one embodiment, available unused UPS capacity ofrack108 may be determined. In another embodiment, where for example available unused capacity of a three phase UPS does not provide a sufficiently accurate indication ofdata center100 power characteristics, the load of the individual phases at the UPS, at the PDU inputs, and at branch circuits may be determined. For example, in a three phase power distribution system, the power capacity measurement that most efficiently determines data center available capacity may be the branch circuit power capacity, (e.g., the point at which IT devices or other data center equipment connect to power). In this example, data center equipment may be single phase and connected to one of the three phases of a three phase UPS power system.
• In one embodiment, in addition to the available power capacity at the branch circuit,data center controller210 may also determine or be provided with available power capacity data of the corresponding phase at the UPS associated with the branch circuit, and with available power capacity data of the corresponding phase of the PDU associated with the branch circuit. In one embodiment, capacity at a branch circuit is available when capacity is available at the branch circuit itself, and its corresponding phase at both the PDU and the UPS associated with that branch circuit.
• It should be appreciated that capacity may become stranded between PDUs, UPSs, and branch circuits. In other words, somedata center100 devices may have available capacity, but this available capacity may be inaccessible for use by other data center devices. For example, a cabinet such as one ofequipment racks108 may have no IT loads and may have a single phase branch circuit supplied by phase A of a three phase UPS, where the UPS is loaded to 33% with all of this load on phase A. In this example, there is no remaining UPS power for phase A and therefore there would be no available capacity for thatrack108. In this example,rack108 could be rewired to supply the associated branch circuit from a different phase.
• In another example, arack108 with no IT loads may have a single phase branch circuit supplied by phase A, where the associated PDU is loaded to 33% with all the load on phase A. In this example, there is no remaining PDU power for phase A and therefore no available capacity forrack108. In this example,rack108 could be rewired to supply the associated branch circuit from a different phase.
• In another example, arack108 with three phase power distribution to therack108 rated at 15 kW may be loaded with equipment to a 9 kW capacity distributed equally across all three phases. In this example, each phase would have 2 kW of available capacity, as the power distribution is balanced across the three phases. In this example that, although it may appear that 6 kW of capacity is available, (i.e., 15 kW-9 kW,) due to the balanced distribution each phase has 2 kW of capacity, and in this example a device greater than 2 kW could not be installed inrack108.
• It should be appreciated that on many power grids worldwide, data center equipment is connected to 230V branch circuits, and that in North America three phase power distribution can connect loads such as data center equipment with either120V or 208V. In one embodiment, 120V and 208V loads can be mixed on a branch circuit ofdata center100. Both 120V and 230V loads can be associated with a particular phase, and 208V loads can be connected across two phases and can consume current capacity on both phases. Thus, in one embodiment wheredata center100 draws power from a North American power grid, capacity at a branch circuit can be determined based on the availability of capacity at the branch circuit, and its associated UPS and PDU on both of the associated phases connected to the load.
• In various embodiments,data center100 control includes information related to bothdata center100 power supply anddata center100 power demand. For example,data center controller210 may manage information regarding the structure ofdata center100 such as its power distribution system, its connection with IT loads such as data center equipment, and the associated phase of the connections.
• In one embodiment, data center equipment, such as servers, may include instruments that allow for the reporting of server current and server power consumption information. Further, the physical location of data center equipment may be stored in a database associated with the equipment, or another database such asdatabase215.
• In one embodiment power consumption of arack108 may be determined based on reported equipment and power consumption information of the equipment that a database indicates is located in therack108. For example,data center controller210 may use this reported power consumption from server instrumentation of servers known to be located in arack108 ofdata center100 to determine cooling capacity for all or part ofdata center100.
• Server instruments that are built into some servers may provide insufficient information to indicate todata center controller210 which branch circuit or phase it is connected to. In this example, without this informationdata center controller210 may not be able to identify server or rack108 available power capacity due, for example, to the stranded power capacity situations discussed herein. In this example, instruments may be introduced todata center100 to provide information todata center controller210.
• In one embodiment, power consumption of arack108 or other data center equipment may be determined based at least in part on equipment manufacturer data. For example, when phase connections of equipment are known, branch circuit, UPS, and PDU capacities may be determined based at least in part on manufacturer supplied equipment parameters. To simplify these determinations, in one embodiment, branch circuits may be dedicated to a single data center device or piece of equipment, and branch circuit current loads may also be measured. It should be appreciated that such manufacturer data based power capacity determinations may be insufficient for some higher density data centers due, for example, to a high number of phase connections and branch circuit configurations where a branch circuit may be dedicated to a single device.
• In one embodiment, instruments may be implemented throughout a power distribution system. For example instruments may be introduced intodata center100 with new devices, or existing data center equipment may be retrofitted. In one embodiment, current can be measured at one or more branch circuits, PDU inputs, and UPS outputs of a power distribution system ofdata center100 and this information can be provided todata center controller210, which can quantify power demand ofdata center100 based at least in part on this information. When, for example,data center controller210 includes a logical representation of interconnections betweenracks108, PDUs, and UPSs ofdata center100, available power capacity that takes into account the phase loading effects can be determined for all branch circuits ofdata center100.
• As discussed,data center controller210 may assist in the deployment of new data center equipment, devices, or IT equipment. In one embodiment,data center controller210 may identify a location indata center100 for placement of a device in a way that balances loads between the phases of a three phase power supply. When data center equipment is added to a data center, or moved within a data center,data center controller210 may indicate that the equipment is to be coupled to underutilized phases of the power system servingdata center100. For example, equipment loads that operate at a power density above an average data center design density could be directed bydata center controller210 to be coupled to phases that are underutilized. Analogously, equipment loads that operate at a power density below an average data center design density could be directed bycontroller210 to be coupled to phases that are over utilized. In one embodiment, repeating this phase-utilization based approach for devices added to or moved withindata center100 can optimize phase balance andrack108 space utilization.
• It should be appreciated that a failure to deploy data center equipment in a balanced manner can lead to stranded power capacity that appears to be present in some data center equipment, such as a PDU, branch circuit, or UPS, but that cannot be utilized due to the configuration of the data center equipment or power system, thus reducingdata center100 efficiency and the amount of equipment that can be deployed.
• Balancing the phase utilization of a three phase power supply can effect rack108 power distribution anddata center100 power density. In one embodiment,data center controller210 can identify zones of equipment enclosures withindata centers100. For example, with respect toFIG. 1,row102 may be a zone ofdata center100. In this example,data center controller210 may determine or specify the average rack power or peak to average rack ratio for each zone. Continuing with this example, the peak to average ratio may impact the amount of stranded power capacity that can exist. In one embodiment,data center controller210 may increase the peak to average ratio to a value 20% larger than the value expected fromtypical rack108 variations. This can reduce the amount of stranded power capacity due to imbalances between branch circuits.
• In one embodiment, three phase power distribution to arack108 enablesdata center controller210 to assign equipment to different phases of thatrack108, resulting in a balanced application of power phases. In an embodiment with single phase power distribution to arack108,data center controller210 may direct relocation of branch circuits betweenracks108.
• Turning toFIG. 4, there is illustrated an example server configuration indata center100. Each server depicted in the example ofFIG. 4 may include at least one physical, dedicated, or virtual server, and the servers as depicted inFIG. 4 may be physically located in one or more than onedata center100. In one embodiment, data center servers may include anFTP server405, file andbackup server410,web server415,order server420,database server425,email server430, and streamingserver435. It is appreciated that this server configuration is an example and is not limiting. Other server functions, applications, and configurations are possible. Although depicted inFIG. 4 as being located within onedata center100, the server configuration ofFIG. 4 and other server configurations may be located in more than onedata center100.
• In one embodiment, different applications to be executed on one or more ofservers405 to435 illustrated inFIG. 4 can have different reliability parameters. Further, the insertion of a server into a server configuration can require different reliability parameters, and can change existing reliability parameters. As depicted inFIG. 4,FTP server405 and file andbackup server410 may have a low level of reliability,email server430 and streamingserver435 may have a medium level of reliability, andweb server415,order server420, anddatabase server425 may have a high level of reliability. It should be appreciated that other configurations and reliability parameters are possible.
• In one embodiment, information technology (IT) or network infrastructure equipment connecting servers in one ormore data centers100 can include connections sufficient to support a requisite level of reliability. For example,FTP server405 may have a low reliability parameter. Therefore, it may be sufficient forFTP server405 to be associated with file andbackup server410 that also has, in this example, low reliability demands. In one embodiment, streamingserver435, with, for example, a medium reliability parameter, can be added to the server configuration ofFIG. 4. In this example, added streamingserver435 may include a server that can execute a streaming application. However, an insertedstreaming server435 would depend on file andbackup server410, which in this example has a low reliability parameter insufficient to execute the medium reliability streaming application in this example.
• With reference toFIGS. 3 and 4, a component ofdata center controller210 such as server andnetwork manager315 can identify network or IT connections between servers. In this example, server andnetwork manager315 may indicate that file andbackup server410, or a connection between added streamingserver435 and file andbackup server410, would have an insufficient reliability rating to execute a streaming application. Responsive to this determination, server andnetwork manager315 may instruct that the reliability of file andbackup server410 increase to a level sufficient to allow insertion ofstreaming server435 for execution of a streaming application. In one embodiment, dependencies between servers or other elements ofdata centers100 ornetworks205 can be identified bydata center controller210 or associated components to identify a location to execute an application, and to identify modifications that may be made todata centers100 to efficiently execute applications at a low cost.
• InFIG. 5 there is shown an example of server configuration indata center100. In one embodiment,FIG. 5 includesfirst server505 andsecond server510, which, with reference toFIG. 1, may be located in one ormore racks108.First server505 andsecond server510 may each include one or more virtual, physical, or dedicated servers. In one embodiment,first server505 andsecond server510 can be physical infrastructure components that form part ofnetwork205.
• As illustrated inFIG. 5,second server510 including server andnetwork manager315 implemented as dedicated hardware withinsecond server510. In one embodiment not shown explicitly inFIG. 5, server andnetwork manager315 can be implemented in an application run on a virtual or physical server included withinfirst server505,second server510, or both.Data centers100 may include more than one server andnetwork manager315 to provide sufficient levels of redundancy and reliability. For example, as illustrated inFIG. 5,first server505 is located in uninterruptable power supply (UPS)zone1, andsecond server510 is located inUPS zone2. In one embodiment, both first andsecond servers505 and510 includeserver manager315 in the form of a virtual or physical server application. In the event of, for example, a power failure in one of the first and second zones, one of first andsecond servers505 and510, withserver manager315, can remain in operation. Thus,server manager315 may track and optimize physical locations of servers to identify or request server moves in the event of power outages, service, or maintenance disruptions.
• Server andnetwork manager315 may be provided with parameters, requirements, or operational information ofsecond server510, as well as those offirst server505 or other servers. In one embodiment, server andnetwork manager315 may instruct one or more of first andsecond servers505 and510 to execute an application based at least in part on server or data center parameters.
• FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating an example computer implementedmethod600 for data center control. In one embodiment,method600 includes an act of identifying parameters of data centers (ACT605) where each data center includes at least one device. For example, identifying data center parameters (ACT605) may include identifying data center power draw, energy use, cooling capacity, processing capability, operational capacity, tolerances, requirements, or operational ranges.
• Identifying data center parameters (ACT605) may include identifying parameters of data centers as a whole as well as identifying parameters of data center components such as servers or cooling units. Identifying data center parameters (ACT605) may include identifying parameters of one or more networks associated with a data center. For example, a plurality of data centers may be interconnected by one or more networks and controlled by a controller. Identifying data center parameters (ACT605) may include identifying parameters of networks, where network parameters may limit data center operation.
• In one embodiment, identifying data center parameters (ACT605) includes identifying parameters or characteristics of select data center devices. Examples of data center devices include cooling subsystems, power subsystems, power generation subsystems, security subsystems, uninterruptable power supplies, servers, processors, and computers. It should be appreciated that this list is not exhaustive and that data center devices include other components and logic devices, for example. Identifying data center parameters (ACT605) may include identifying or determining individual status, requirement, dependency, and operation information for data centers, their subsystems, and individual components. In one embodiment, identifying data center parameters (ACT605) includes identifying power grid parameters of a power grid from which a data center draws power. Other such external parameters may also be identified. For example, identifying data center parameters (ACT605) may include identifying labor conditions, political or economic turmoil, or other external factors that can effect data center operation. Further examples of data center parameters include any of data center environmental data, temperature inside a data center, temperature outside a data center, power cost, cooling cost, data center facility lease, rent, or ownership cost, service cost, maintenance cost, and labor cost. It should be appreciated that these lists are examples and are not exhaustive. In various embodiments, the data center parameters may include current or historical data. In one embodiment, identifying data center parameters (ACT605) may occur in real time or periodic intervals.
• Identifying data center parameters (ACT605) may also include identifying factory provided or built-in device tolerance data. Identifying data center parameters (ACT605) may include monitoring or sampling data centers or their equipment to determine the parameters. In one embodiment, identifying data center parameters
• (ACT605) includes receiving information identifying the parameters. In one embodiment data center parameters that are identified (ACT605) can be stored for subsequent retrieval in one or more databases or memory storage devices. In one embodiment, identifying data center parameters (ACT605) includes identifying which data centers or data center components may be available to execute additional applications. For example, a list of available data centers may be provided and ranked in order of available capacity or in order of operating expense. Such a list may be stored in a database and updated in real time or periodically as data center parameters change.
• In one embodiment, identifying data center parameters (ACT605) includes determining the impact that any added components such as subsystems, hardware, or virtual servers have on a data center. For example, identifying data center parameters (ACT605) may include determining an impact any added data center components have on data center cooling capacity, power draw, or performance.
• In one embodiment,method600 includes an act of indicating excess data center capacity (ACT610) of one or more data centers. For example, indicating excess data center capacity (ACT610) may include providing an indication of excess data center capacity to a technician, or to a logic device associated with a different data center that may have less or no excess capacity. In one embodiment, indicating excess data center capacity (ACT610) includes a graphical display of data center operating capacity or excess capacity in real time. For example, indicating excess data center capacity (ACT610) may include providing information indicating that a data center is operating at, for example, 80% capacity and thus has 20% excess data capacity. By redistributing data center applications or shutting down data center devices, excess data capacity can be provided to other data centers, reduced, or eliminated.
• Method600 may also include an act of detecting an application failure (ACT615). In one embodiment, detecting application failure (ACT615) includes detecting application failure due to a lack of an available data center, data center operational problems, maintenance, network problems, or power supply problems. In one embodiment, an indication of an application failure at a data center may be detected (ACT615) at a location internal to or remote from the data center where the application failure occurred.
• In one embodiment, detecting an application failure (ACT615) includes locating data center or network equipment associated with or effected by the failure. For example, an application may fail to execute as intended when run on a server. In this example, the server may be identified and identifying information may be provided to a technician, controller, or logic associated with the same or different data centers. In one embodiment, where an application fails to properly execute on a physical server, one or more virtual servers running on top of the virtual server may also be identified. The virtual servers may then be transferred to a different location within the same data center, or to a different data center. In one embodiment, responsive to detecting application failure (ACT615), a temporary location may be found for application transfer. This temporary location may not be the most suitable location for long term application execution. For example, running the application at the temporary location may increase the burden on a data center component to an unsustainable level. In this example, an application may run at a temporary location until a more suitable location can be identified.
• In one embodiment, detecting an application failure (ACT615) includes providing information related to the failure to technicians. This information may identify failed data center or network equipment, transferred virtual servers, new hardware, maintenance operations, and shut down signals, for example.
• Method600 may include an act of generating a request to add hardware to a data center (ACT620). In one embodiment, responsive to detecting an application failure (ACT615),method600 includes an act of generating a request to add hardware (ACT620). For example, an application may fail due to a lack of server processing capacity in a data center. Responsive to detection (ACT615) of this failure,method600 may generate a request (ACT620) to add hardware to the data center where the application failed. An attempt may then be made to execute the failed application using new hardware added to the data center responsive to the request (ACT620). Generating a request to add hardware to a data center (ACT620) may also include providing the request to a data center technician. In one embodiment, a generated (ACT620) request may be displayed on a graphical interface. Generating a request (ACT620) may include generating a request to add a virtual server to a data center.
• Method600 may include an act of disabling one or more data center devices (ACT625). In one embodiment a data center device such as a server or other component may not be in use, or may be used at a fraction of its capacity. Disabling a data center device (ACT625) can increase data center efficiency, reduce power draw, and reduce heat generation, all of which can lower the cost of data center operation. Disabling a data center device (ACT625) may include shutting down a device, removing a device such as a physical or virtual server from a data center, or putting a device in a sleep mode that reduces power draw of that device. In one embodiment, disabling a data center device (ACT625) includes transferring applications running on that data center device to a different device that may be located in the same or a different data center prior to disabling the device.
• In one embodiment,method600 includes an act of monitoring network equipment parameters (ACT630). For example, network limitations can limit data center operation. This may include limitations of the network infrastructure equipment that form at least part of the network. Monitoring network equipment (ACT630) may include any of receiving an indication of network equipment requirements, dependencies, capacity, speed, functionality, or bandwidth. This list of examples is not exhaustive. Monitoring network parameters (ACT630) may include detecting a network failure or disruption, and may include detecting a power grid disruption of a power grid that may provide power to a data center. In one embodiment, monitoring network equipment (ACT630) includes monitoring the status of individual network elements, devices, or components such as servers, switches, or routers.
• Method600 may include an act of receiving a warning message (ACT635). For example, receiving a warning message (ACT635) may include receiving a message of planned or unplanned data center maintenance, or a power disruption in a location that includes a data center. In one embodiment, receiving a warning message (ACT635) may include identifying a problem with a data center. For example, receiving a warning message (ACT635) may include receiving a message that data center components or subsystems are operating at or near capacity.
• In one embodiment, receiving a warning message (ACT635) may include receiving information indicating that a data center, its subsystems (e.g., cooling units) or components (e.g., servers) are being underutilized. For example, a warning message may be received (ACT635) that a data center or component (e.g., device) thereof is currently using 5% of its available processing capacity. Responsive to this warning message, the data center may be shut down at least temporarily. Any applications running at that data center may be stopped, and a technician may be alerted. Such action may increase overall efficiency and lower cost when a plurality of data centers operate in concert.
• In one embodiment,method600 includes an act of receiving a command to execute an application (ACT645). Receiving a command to execute an application (ACT645) may include receiving a request to execute an application. The request or command may be received (ACT645) from a data center, a network associated with a data center, or a technician, for example. In one embodiment, receiving a command to execute an application (ACT645) includes receiving a request to transfer an application between data centers or between data center components of one or more data centers. In one embodiment, receiving a request to execute an application (ACT645) can be responsive to an act of detecting an application failure (ACT615) at one or more data centers. In one embodiment, receiving a request to execute an application (ACT645) includes a controller generating the request. In one embodiment, receiving a command to execute an application (ACT645) includes receiving a command to execute an application at a data center, where the application was provided by a different data center.
• In one embodiment,method600 includes an act of identifying requirements of an application (ACT650). For example, identifying requirements of an application (ACT650) may include identifying system resources used by an application during its execution. System resources may include memory or processor capacity used, as well as heat generated, cooling capacity required to control generated heat, or power draw of equipment used to run, store, or execute the application, for example. In one embodiment requirements of an application are identified (ACT650) responsive to or together with the received (ACT645) command to execute the application. Identifying requirements of an application (ACT650) may include identifying a time period in which an application is to be executed. In one embodiment, identifying requirements of an application (ACT650) includes identifying redundancy, accuracy, reliability, or fault tolerant requirements of an application.
• In one embodiment,method600 includes an act of identifying a data center as a location to run the application (ACT655). This may include identifying a data center (ACT655) from a plurality of data centers based at least in part on an evaluation of parameters of the plurality of data centers. These parameters may include, for example power, current, energy, cooling, and device characteristics of data centers as a whole, data center equipment, and network equipment of networks connecting a controller to one or more data centers. Identifying a data center (ACT655) may include identifying a data center or individual components or subsystems thereof, such as a server. In one embodiment, identifying a data center (ACT655) includes identifying a data center based at least in part on requirements of an application that may be executed within a data center.
• In one example, a plurality of data centers may be connected to each other via at least one network and also connected to at least one controller. These data centers may be geographically disparate. A first data center may be operating, for example, at 35% of its processing capacity but may be using 98% of its cooling capacity and therefore may be drawing a high amount of power. A second data center may be operating, for example, at 90% of its capacity, but may be using only 60% of its cooling capacity and may, in this example, draw less power than the first data center. Continuing with this example, a controller may evaluate the capacity and power draw data of these two data centers and identify (ACT655) second data center as a location to execute an application. In this example, the application may be a new application, or may be transferred from the first data center to the second data center. It should be appreciated that identifying a data center (ACT655) can include an evaluation of more than data center processing, cooling, and power capacities. For example, network equipment and individual data center subsystems and devices may be evaluated when identifying one or more data centers to execute an application (ACT655).
• The above example is not limiting, and other factors, parameters, and requirements may be considered in identifying a data center (ACT655). For example, two or more data centers may be drawing equal power, but one of the data centers may be located in a nation or region having less expensive power. In this example, identifying a data center (ACT655) may include identifying the data center that draws power from a less expensive source, as this decreases the total cost of data center operation. In another example, power generated from an environmentally safer source, (e.g., solar, wind, hydroelectric, or nuclear) may influence an act of identifying a data center (ACT655). Geographic, and political concerns, as well as labor costs are further examples of factors that may be considered when identifying a data center (ACT655).
• In one embodiment, identifying a data center (ACT655) may include an evaluation of the climate or local weather conditions in an area that includes a data center. For example, in a cold climate a data center may be designed in a way that minimizes the amount of cooling equipment necessary to cool a data center. In another example, the potential for extreme weather conditions, such as hurricanes or blizzards, could lead to power grid disruptions, and may be considered when identifying a data center (ACT655).
• In one embodiment, identifying a data center (ACT655) may include identifying a particular data center subsystem or device as a location to execute at least part of an application. For example, identifying a data center (ACT655) may include identifying a first data center or component thereof to run part of an application, and identifying a different component of the first data center to run another part of an application. Further, another part of the application may be run at a second data center or component thereof. In one embodiment, identifying a data center (ACT655) includes identifying a time to execute an application at one or more data centers. For example, it may be most cost effective to execute an application at a particular data center in the middle of the night due, for example, to data center use conditions or the resources required to run the application.
• In one embodiment, identifying a data center as a location to execute an application (ACT655) includes identifying the effect that an application would have on a data center, should data center components execute the application. For example, a data center may be operating at 77% of its capacity. Identifying a data center as a location to execute an application (ACT655) may include a determination that executing an application at the identified data center would cause that data center to operate at a different percentage of its capacity. In another example, identifying a data center (ACT655) may include determining that executing an application on a data center would cause a 0.5% increase in data center power draw if the application is executed during business hours. It should be appreciated that these percentages, and other example percentages used herein, are arbitrary. Other percentages or values indicative of data center or network functionality can be used.
• In one embodiment, an indication of the effect an application may have on a data center can be displayed or provided to a technician. In this example, identifying a data center (ACT655) may occur responsive to an indication from a technician indicating that the effect of an application on a data center is acceptable. In another example, identifying a data center (ACT655) may occur responsive to an indication from a controller or data center components of any data center indicating that the effect of an application on a data center is acceptable.
• In one embodiment, identifying a data center (ACT655) includes identifying a plurality of data centers having sufficient capacities to execute an application. For example, identified data center parameters may be evaluated to produce a list of suitable locations to execute an application within one or more data centers. In this example, the list may be ordered so that at least one location is identified as a primary location. Continuing with this example, a plurality of servers within one or more data centers may be identified from those having the lowest operating expenses to those having the highest operating expenses. Either the data centers themselves or their individual components or subsystems may be identified (ACT655). In one embodiment, a cluster of virtual servers in one or more data centers can be identified (ACT655).
• Identifying a data center (ACT655) may include identifying a location of a virtual server of a data center, where the virtual server has sufficient capacities to execute an application. In one embodiment, identifying a data center (ACT655) includes identifying a virtual server in a data center, and identifying a suitable alternate location for that virtual server. Such alternate location may be within a data center having lower operating expenses or a lower total cost of ownership than another data center. For example, a virtual server capable of executing an application may be in a data center that has an unreliable power grid, or the virtual server may be reliant on other data center components that are insufficient or unreliable. In this example, identifying a data center (ACT655) may include identifying an alternate location for the virtual server. The alternate location may be in the same or a different data center. A virtual server or cluster of virtual servers may then be transferred to the alternate location to execute an application.
• In one embodiment, identifying a data center (ACT655) includes identifying a data center as being in need of maintenance. In this illustrative embodiment, a technician may approve a request to upgrade or perform maintenance on a data center, its components, or its associated networks or controllers. For example, virtual server performance may increase if hardware of an underlying physical server is upgraded. In this example, identifying a data center (ACT655) may include, or be responsive to, a request to upgrade server hardware. In one embodiment, the cost of hardware, maintenance, or installation activity when upgrading equipment or adding hardware can be taken into account when identifying a data center (ACT655). This may occur, for example, in response to a request to add hardware (ACT620) to a data center.
• A specific application need not be provided for execution prior to the act of identifying a data center (ACT655). For example, identifying a data center (ACT655) may include identifying a plurality of data centers having, for example, available server processing capacity. A list of these data centers may be ranked by, for example, amount of processing capacity, cost of operation, location, or other factors. This list may be updated periodically or in real time. This list may be retrieved from a memory storage unit or database where it is stored.
• In one embodiment,method600 may include an act of transferring data center applications (ACT658). Data center applications may be transferred (ACT658) between devices within a one data server, or from a first data center to a second data center. In one embodiment, transferring data center applications can be responsive to an act of receiving a warning message from a data center (ACT635). In one embodiment, components such as virtual, physical, or dedicated servers may be added to a data center for the purpose of receiving a transferred (ACT658) application. Transferring an application (ACT658) may include transferring an application to two or more physical or virtual locations, or to a cluster of virtual servers. In one embodiment, transferring an application (ACT658) includes transferring a portion of an application while another portion of an application remains at an existing physical or virtual location.
• In one embodiment, transferring a data center application (ACT658) includes identifying a data center as being capable of executing an application currently allocated or assigned to a device of a different data center. For example, a plurality of data centers may be operating simultaneously. One of the plurality of data centers may be operating in a location where energy costs are lower than energy costs at the location of other data centers. In this example, transferring a data center application (ACT658) may include identifying a data center having lower energy costs as a location to execute an application currently executed by a different data center that has higher energy costs. In this example, the application may be transferred (ACT658) from the data center with higher energy costs to the data center with lower energy costs. This reduces overall operating costs of the plurality of data centers. It should be appreciated that the example of energy costs is not limiting. Other factors, such as labor costs, maintenance, processing capacity, reliability, or power grid durability may be evaluated when transferring a data center to a location to execute an application (ACT658).
• In one embodiment,method600 includes an act of providing an application to a data center (ACT660). For example, providing an application to a data center (ACT660) may include transmitting an application via a network to a data center or component thereof such as a server having sufficient capacity to execute the application. An application may be provided (ACT660) to a data center via a network, another data center, a technician, or a controller. In one embodiment, providing an application to a data center (ACT660) includes providing an application to hardware added to a data center responsive to the act of generating a request (ACT620) to add the hardware. It should be appreciated that providing an application to a data center (ACT660) may change data center operating characteristics and other parameters.
• In one embodiment,method600 includes an act of instructing a server or other data center component to execute an application (ACT665). For example, an application may be provided to a data center (ACT660) for immediate execution by a server or other data center component. Instructing a server to execute an application (ACT665) may also include instructions as to how an application is to be executed. For example, instructions may include reliability or fault tolerance specifications. In various embodiments, instructing a data center to execute an application (ACT665) can be responsive to, for example, transferring an application (ACT658), providing an application to a data center (ACT660), providing an application to a second data center (ACT680) or identifying a data center (ACT655).
• In one embodiment,method600 includes an act of time shifting execution of an application (ACT670). Time shifting execution of an application (ACT670) may include delaying execution of an application. For example, when identifying requirements of an application (ACT650), it may be determined that execution of an application is not time sensitive. Further, a data center may have additional capacity on certain days such as holidays or weekends, or at certain times of day, such as after a stock market is closed or after working hours. In situations such as these, an application may be time shifted (ACT670) to use a data center during a period of reduced data center activity. In one embodiment, instructions to execute an application (ACT665) include instructions to time shift execution of the application (ACT670). In one embodiment, time shifting execution of an application (ACT670) can be responsive to identification of data center parameters (ACT605). Further, time shifting execution of an application (ACT670) may be responsive to receipt of a warning message (ACT635). The warning message may indicate, for example, that a data center or components thereof are at or near capacity, that data center maintenance is scheduled, that a power grid associated with a data center is disrupted, that there are labor or security concerns, or other factors.
• Method600 may include an act of determining a first data center capacity (ACT675). For example, determining first data center capacity (ACT675) may include determining an amount of data center capacity being used, or an amount of data center capacity that is available. The data center capacity that is determined (ACT675) may include processing capacity, power capacity, or cooling capacity of a data center as a whole or of individual subsystems or elements therein. For example, identifying first data center capacity (ACT675) may include identifying a server in a data center as having sufficient capacity to execute an application. First data center capacity may be determined (ACT675) based on information provided by the first data center or its equipment, or by extrapolation based on known equipment tolerances and information related to a number of applications first data center may be executing.
• Determining a first data center capacity (ACT675) may include identifying a data center as having excess or available capacity. Determining a first data center capacity (ACT675) may also include determining that a data center is operating at capacity. For example, a data center may be drawing 100% of its available power, or data center cooling units may be operating at capacity. Further, servers or other components may be operating at their maximum processing capacity, or memory devices may be full. In one embodiment, identifying data center parameters (ACT605) includes an act of determining a first data center capacity (ACT675).
• In one embodiment, determining a first data center capacity (ACT675) may be accomplished by referencing a data center model. For example, a data center controller external to a data center may simulate data center operation. In this example, determining a first data center capacity (ACT675) may include determining data center capacity based on simulated—as opposed to measured—data center data.
• In one embodiment,method600 includes an act of providing an application to a second data center (ACT680). Providing an application to a second data center (ACT680) may occur responsive to at least one of determining first data center capacity (ACT675), receiving a warning message (ACT635), detecting an application failure (ACT615), monitoring network equipment parameters (ACT630), indicating excess data center capacity (ACT610), and identifying data center parameters (ACT605), for example. In one embodiment, providing an application to a second data center (ACT680) includes providing an application to second data center components such as a server for execution. In one embodiment, providing an application to a second data center (ACT680) includes providing a portion of the application to a second data center.
• Various aspects and embodiments described herein may be implemented on one or more computer systems as discussed above. For example,system200 may be implemented in a single computer system or in multiple computer systems. These computer systems may be, for example, general-purpose computers such as those based on Intel PENTIUM-type processor, Motorola PowerPC, Sun UltraSPARC, Hewlett-Packard PA-RISC processors, or any other type of processor.
• For example, various aspects may be implemented as specialized software executing in a general-purpose computer system700 such as that shown inFIG. 7. Thecomputer system700 may include aprocessor705 connected to one ormore memory devices710, such as a disk drive, memory, or other device for storing data.Memory710 is typically used for storing programs and data during operation of thecomputer system700. Thecomputer system700 may also include astorage system715 that provides additional storage capacity. Components ofcomputer system700 may be coupled by aninterconnection mechanism720, which may include one or more busses (e.g., between components that are integrated within a same machine) and/or a network (e.g., between components that reside on separate discrete machines). Theinterconnection mechanism720 enables communications (e.g., data, instructions) to be exchanged between system components ofsystem700.
• Computer system700 also includes one ormore input devices725, for example, a keyboard, mouse, trackball, microphone, touch screen, and one ormore output devices730, for example, a printing device, display screen, speaker. In addition,computer system700 may contain one or more interfaces (not shown) that connectcomputer system700 to a communication network (in addition or as an alternative to the interconnection mechanism720).
• Thestorage system715, shown in greater detail inFIG. 8, typically includes a computer readable and writeablenonvolatile recording medium805 in which signals are stored that define a program to be executed by the processor or information stored on or in the medium805 to be processed by the program to perform one or more functions associated with embodiments described herein. The medium may, for example, be a disk or flash memory. Typically, in operation, the processor causes data to be read from thenonvolatile recording medium805 into anothermemory810 that allows for faster access to the information by the processor than does the medium805. Thismemory810 is typically a volatile, random access memory such as a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) or static memory (SRAM). It may be located instorage system715, as shown, or inmemory system710. Theprocessor705 generally manipulates the data within the integratedcircuit memory710,810 and then copies the data to the medium805 after processing is completed. A variety of mechanisms may manage data movement between the medium805 and the integratedcircuit memory element710,810, and the examples provided herein, includingexample memory system710 andstorage system715 are not limiting.
• Computer systems implemented herein may include specially-programmed, special-purpose hardware, for example, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC). Various aspects described herein may be implemented in software, hardware or firmware, or any combination thereof. Further, such methods, acts, systems, system elements and components thereof may be implemented as part of the computer system described above or as an independent component.
• Althoughcomputer system700 is shown by way of example as one type of computer system upon which various aspects described herein may be practiced, it should be appreciated that aspects and embodiments are not limited to being implemented on the computer system as shown inFIG. 7. Various aspects may be practiced on one or more computers having a different architecture or components shown inFIG. 7. Further, where functions or processes of embodiments that are described herein (or in the claims) as being performed on a processor or controller, such description is intended to include systems that use more than one processor or controller to perform the functions.
• Computer system700 may be a general-purpose computer system that is programmable using a high-level computer programming language.Computer system700 may be also implemented using specially programmed, special purpose hardware. Incomputer system700,processor705 may be a commercially available processor such as the well-known Pentium class processor available from the Intel Corporation. Other processors are available, such as those that can execute an operating system which may be, for example, the Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT, Windows 2000 (Windows ME), Windows XP, or Windows Vista operating systems available from the Microsoft Corporation, MAC OS System X operating system available from Apple Computer, the Solaris operating system available from Sun Microsystems, or UNIX operating systems available from various sources. Many other operating systems may be used.
• The processor and operating system together define a computer platform for which application programs in high-level programming languages are written. It should be understood that embodiments of the systems and methods described herein are not limited to a particular computer system platform, processor, operating system, or network. Also, it should be appreciated that these systems and methods are not limited to a specific programming language or computer system. Other appropriate programming languages and other appropriate computer systems can be used.
• One or more portions of the computer system may be distributed across one or more computer systems coupled to a communications network. For example, as discussed above,network manager315 may be located remotely from change andcapacity manager305. These computer systems also may be general-purpose computer systems. For example,system200 elements can be distributed among one or more computer systems configured to provide a service (e.g., servers) to one or more client computers, or to perform an overall task as part of a distributed system. For example, operations may be performed on a client-server or multi-tier system that includes components distributed among one or more server systems that perform various functions according to various embodiments described herein. These components may be executable, intermediate (e.g., IL) or interpreted (e.g., Java) code which communicate over a communication network (e.g., the Internet) using a communication protocol (e.g., TCP/IP). For example, one or more database servers may be used to store device data that is used in designing layouts, and one or more servers may be used to efficiently perform cooling calculations associated with embodiments described herein.
• It should be appreciated that aspects and embodiments described herein are not limited to executing on any particular system or group of systems. Also, it should be appreciated that the aspects and embodiments described herein are not limited to any particular distributed architecture, network, or communication protocol.
• Various aspects and embodiments may be programmed using an object-oriented programming language, such as SmallTalk, Java, C++, Ada, or C# (C-Sharp). Other object-oriented programming languages may also be used. Alternatively, functional, scripting, and/or logical programming languages may be used. Various aspects and embodiments may be implemented in a non-programmed environment (e.g., documents created in HTML, XML or other format that, when viewed in a window of a browser program, render aspects of a graphical-user interface (GUI) or perform other functions). Various aspects and embodiments may be implemented as programmed or non-programmed elements, or any combination thereof.
• Systems and methods are described herein that provide indications of remaining cooling capacity for equipment enclosures. The indication of remaining cooling capacity may be a direct indication of remaining cooling in terms of, for example, kilowatts or BTU per hour, or the indication may be indirect such as providing the total capacity of cooling available to an enclosure along with an indication of how much cooling is being used, for example, in terms of percentage. Further, calculated values, including the capture index and the recirculation index may be used to determine the sufficiency of a particular design and to determine additional cooling capacity before a warning or error condition will result.
• In aspects and embodiments discussed herein, results of analyses are described as being provided in real-time. It should be appreciated that the use of the term real-time may, but need not suggest that the results are available immediately. For example, results may become outdated quickly, giving a designer the ability to try a number of different designs over a short period of time, such as a matter of minutes.
• Note that inFIGS. 1 through 8, the enumerated items are shown as individual elements. In actual implementations of the systems and methods described herein, however, they may be inseparable components of other electronic devices such as a digital computer. Thus, actions described above may be implemented at least in part in software that may be embodied in an article of manufacture that includes a program storage medium. The program storage medium includes data signals embodied in one or more of a carrier wave, a computer disk (magnetic, or optical (e.g., CD or DVD, or both), non-volatile memory, tape, a system memory, and a computer hard drive.
• From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that the aspects and embodiments described herein afford effective data center control. These aspects and embodiments are able to identify a plurality of characteristics from geographically disparate data centers and their associated devices and networks. By evaluating these characteristics, aspects and embodiments can identify data center locations to execute new or existing applications. This redistribution and placement of applications for execution increases data center efficiency and compatibility, saves energy, and lowers operating cost.
• Embodiments and aspects described herein are suitable for use in relatively large data centers having numerous equipment racks, as well as smaller or informal data centers and with facilities other than data centers. Estimations of branch circuit capacities and phase balance can become complex in high density data centers. Internal server power instrumentation may provide information to a data center controller to identify cooling susbsystem capacity. In various embodiments, such as those utilizing three phase power supplies or where server instrumentation is lacking, power distribution system instrumentation can provide information used to determine load consumption, available capacities, and phase balance. This information can be used by a data center controller to allocate or reallocate data center devices, subsystems, or equipment to or within one or more data centers. This improves data center operation and efficiency, and lowers operating cost.
• Any references to front and back, left and right, top and bottom, and upper and lower are intended for convenience of description, not to limit the present systems and methods or their components to any one positional or spatial orientation.
• Any references to embodiments or elements or acts of the systems and methods herein referred to in the singular may also embrace embodiments including a plurality of these elements, and any references in plural to any embodiment or element or act herein may also embrace embodiments including only a single element. References in the singular or plural form are not intended to limit the presently disclosed systems or methods, their components, acts, or elements.
• Any embodiment disclosed herein may be combined with any other embodiment, and references to “an embodiment”, “some embodiments”, “an alternate embodiment”, “various embodiments”, “one embodiment” or the like are not necessarily mutually exclusive and are intended to indicate that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment may be included in at least one embodiment. Such terms as used herein are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Any embodiment may be combined with any other embodiment in any manner consistent with the objects disclosed herein. References to “or” may be construed as inclusive so that any terms described using “or” may indicate any of a single, more than one, and all of the described terms.
• Where technical features in the drawings, detailed description or any claim are followed by references signs, the reference signs have been included for the sole purpose of increasing the intelligibility of the drawings, detailed description, and claims. Accordingly, neither the reference signs nor their absence have any limiting effect on the scope of any claim elements.
• One skilled in the art will realize the systems and methods described herein may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. For example, physically separate data centers in geographically disparate areas may be considered to be one distributed data center. In another example, resources may be allocated or adjusted between one or more devices or subsystems of a single data center. The foregoing embodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects illustrative rather than limiting of the described systems and methods. Scope of the systems and methods described herein is thus indicated by the appended claims, rather than the foregoing description, and all changes that come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.

Claims (30)

1. A computer implemented method for data center control, comprising:

identifying parameters of a plurality of data centers, each data center including a plurality of devices;

receiving a command to execute an application;

identifying a selected data center from the plurality of data centers as a location to run the application based at least in part on an evaluation of the parameters.

2. The computer implemented method ofclaim 1, comprising:

identifying requirements of the application; and

identifying the selected data center based at least in part on an evaluation of the requirements.

3. The computer implemented method ofclaim 1, comprising:

detecting a failure of the application at one of the plurality of data centers; and

identifying the selected data center responsive to detecting the failure.

4. The computer implemented method ofclaim 1, comprising:

determining a first data center capacity based on an evaluation of at least one of simulated first data center cooling characteristics and simulated first data center power characteristics;

providing information indicating the first data center capacity to a device associated with a second data center; and

receiving a request to execute, on a device in the first data center, an application provided by the device associated with second data center.

5. The computer implemented method ofclaim 1, comprising:

identifying insufficient data center capacity in the selected data center based at least on part on simulated characteristics of the selected data center; and

enabling at least one of an uninterruptible power supply, a server, network equipment, and a cooling unit of the selected data center.

6. The computer implemented method ofclaim 1, wherein at least two of the plurality of data centers are connected by a network, comprising:

monitoring simulated parameters of network infrastructure equipment that forms at least part of the network.

7. The computer implemented method ofclaim 1, comprising:

adding a physical server to a cluster of virtual servers of the selected data center; and

distributing at least a portion of the application to the cluster of virtual servers.

8. The computer implemented method ofclaim 1, comprising:

providing the application to a virtual server of the selected data center.

9. The computer implemented method ofclaim 1, comprising:

disabling at least one of an uninterruptible power supply, a server, network equipment, and a cooling unit associated with at least one of the parameters of the plurality of data centers.

10. The computer implemented method ofclaim 1, comprising:

enabling at least one of an uninterruptible power supply, a server, network equipment, and a cooling unit associated with at least one of the parameters of the plurality of data centers.

11. The computer implemented method ofclaim 1, comprising:

identifying system requirements to execute the application; and

time shifting execution of the application based on the evaluation of the parameters and an evaluation of the system requirements.

12. The computer implemented method ofclaim 1, comprising:

identifying a server in the selected data center as having capacity sufficient to execute the application;

providing the application to the server; and

instructing the server to execute the application.

13. The computer implemented method ofclaim 1, comprising:

distributing at least a portion of the application to two or more data centers.

14. A data center activity control system, comprising:

a data center controller associated with a network and configured to identify parameters of a plurality of data centers associated with the network, each data center including a plurality of devices; and

the data center controller configured to evaluate the parameters to identify a selected data center from the plurality of data centers as a location to run an application.

15. The system ofclaim 14, wherein the data center controller is configured to identifying requirements of the application; and

wherein the data center controller is further configured to identify the selected data center based at least in part on an evaluation of the requirements.

16. The system ofclaim 14, wherein the data center controller identifies the selected data center responsive to a failure to execute the application at one of the plurality of data centers.

17. The system ofclaim 14, wherein the parameters include at least one of simulated power consumption, simulated cooling capacity, simulated efficiency, simulated redundancy, simulated reliability, and simulated backup runtime of a device located in one of the data centers.

18. The system ofclaim 14, wherein:

the data center controller determines a first data center capacity based on an evaluation of at least one of simulated first data center cooling characteristics and simulated first data center power characteristics; and wherein

the data center controller provides information indicating the first data center capacity to a device associated with a second data center; and wherein

the data center controller receives a request to execute, on a device in the first data center, an application provided by the device associated with second data center.

19. The system ofclaim 14, wherein the data center controller monitors parameters of network infrastructure equipment that form at least part of the network.

20. The system ofclaim 14, wherein the data center controller is configured to distribute at least a portion of the application to a cluster of virtual servers of the selected data center.

21. The system ofclaim 14, wherein the data center controller is configured to provide the application to a virtual server located in the selected data center.

22. The system ofclaim 14, wherein:

the data center controller is configured to receive a warning message from a subsystem of a first data center; and wherein:

the data center controller is configured to transfer, via the network, a first application from a server located in the first data center to a server located in a second data center.

23. The system ofclaim 14, wherein:

the data center controller is configured to identify system requirements to execute the application; and wherein

the data center controller is configured to time shift execution of the application based on in part on the system requirements.

24. The system ofclaim 14, wherein:

a server in the selected data center includes capacity sufficient to execute the application; and wherein

the data center controller is configured to provide the application to the server for execution by the server.

25. The system ofclaim 14, wherein the data center controller is configured to generate a request to add hardware to at least one of the plurality of data centers.

26. The system ofclaim 14, wherein the data center controller is configured to indicate that the selected data center has excess capacity based at least in part on an evaluation, by the data center controller, of the parameters.

27. The system ofclaim 14, wherein the data center controller is configured to distribute at least a portion of the application to two or more data centers based at least on part on an evaluation, by the data center controller, of the parameters.

28. A computer readable medium having stored thereon sequences of instructions, the sequences of instructions including instructions, when executed by a processor, that cause the processor to:

identify simulated parameters of a plurality of data centers, each data center including a plurality of devices;

receive a command to execute an application; and

identify a selected data center from the plurality of data centers as a location to run the application based at least in part on an evaluation of the parameters.

29. The computer readable medium ofclaim 28, further comprising instructions that cause the processor to:

identify requirements of the application;

identify the selected data center based at least in part on an evaluation of the requirements; and

detect a failure of the application at one of the plurality of data centers.

30. The computer readable medium ofclaim 29, further comprising instructions that cause the processor to:

determine a first data center capacity based on an evaluation of at least one of first data center cooling characteristics and first data center power characteristics;

provide information indicating the first data center capacity to a device associated with a second data center; and

receive a request to execute, on a device in the first data center, an application provided by the device associated with second data center.

Images